The Most Shocking Truth About JFK & Marilyn Monroe?

It may be devastating to the American people to suggest that a romanticized story they have long cherished and held dear about a beloved President might be, in fact, utterly false or at least exaggerated to the point where it has become mythologized.

This might prove so damaging to the national psyche that many political and entertainment editors and producers might mount a systematic propaganda campaign to protect the former President’s now-popularized reputation, so long held sacred by those who idolize him.

The President at his May 1962 birthday fundraiser.

Yet, on this 50th anniversary of their most famous and public of meetings, it is time to face a certain truth.

An imagined scene of Monroe and Kennedy with lookalike models by artist and photographer Alison Jackson.

There are dozens of books and websites devoted to Monroe with all sorts of quotes of people from every walk of life offering eyewitness accounts with impeccable memory for every imaginable detail. One can go to all those sources and search to one’s heart’s content.

A faked image seeking to mythologize the President and Actress as closer than they may have been.

There are badly doctored fake pictures showing them together as well as artistic renderings of their purported meetings.

The story was expanded to include the Attorney-General and the Mafia and phone calls to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and dark claims of blackmail and murder. There are essays, plays and, last year, insanely ridiculous scenes in The Kennedys mini-series which the public takes as proof, failing to remember drama’s first priority is drama.

Even were documentation to emerge which proved the Kennedy-Monroe story to be entirely untrue, the idea has so permanently lodged in the public imagination, it would likely lead to a dozen new forensic conspiracy theory websites alleging a Kennedy family cover-up. There are those who’ve studied all the claims and stories closely and can speak precisely to all this. This author cannot do so with any such level of detail – or interest.

No Tub-Stucker Taft.

The persistent presidential myth, however, is not an uncommon phenomena. Whatever embarrassing or far-too-humanizing anecdote which may have begun with a kernel of truth or as merely a sharp assessment of a situation by an imaginative observer will – if it captures the public’s imagination – eventually solidify as “fact.”

What is indisputably established, however, is that people want to believe it and to give the people what they want documentaries, mini-series, books, and articles will always appear, often with some newly-crafted tidbit to further stir the public desire.

Sometimes evidence does pop up decades later.

Nan Britton and her daughter, who she claimed was fathered by President Warren G. Harding.

Some of the many stories about Warren G. Harding’s alleged affairs and others of President Kennedy seem likely to be true, based on substantive yet circumstantial evidence. The large correspondence between Harding and his Ohio neighbor Carrie Phillips provides indisputable proof of their affair.

In contrast, Harding’s reputed affair with, and allegedly illegitimate child by Nan Britton, was widely believed after her 1927 book The President’s Daughter, but disavowed seventy years later by a very mad professor intent on altering Harding’s standing as a bad president, a cause angrily continued by his proteges.

According to some in the field, this professor summarily determined that memoirs written by women (not just those by an alleged mistresses) which made the claims about Harding should be dismissed as “gossip,” while holding sacred the memoirs of a White House mailroom clerk who claimed the Britton affair was untrue.

Yet only recently there has come to light an August 22, 1921 letter which President Harding wrote while running the country, to the Collector of the Port of New York, trying to get Nan Britton a federal government job and making clear his close tie to her. It was not a letter even Nan Britton knew about or used in her memoirs.

Nan Britton in later years.

Does it unequivocally prove Harding fathered Britton’s daughter? No.

Does it prove Nan Britton was honest about how close she really was to Harding and how deeply concerned he was for her well-being? Absolutely. Does that add some credence to her claim. Yes.

Does it mean they had a love affair? Inconclusive.

The point? People love a great story about a President, whether true, false or exaggerated. And, as Hillary Clinton once said, “What I symbolize as a persona is ultimately more important to people than who I really am as a person.”

To date, no original documentation has ever credibly proven a Kennedy-Monroe affair. In fact, the first mention of “Kennedy” being involved with Monroe emerged in her 1974 biography by the famous writer Norman Mailer – a claim he later admitted to be entirely imaginary.

Marilyn Monroe with gossip columnist Earl Wilson.

Lawford and last wife.

The idea was out of the gate, however, and soon insisted upon as truth by former gossip columnist Earl Wilson in his book Show Business Laid Bare, which suggested the link between the two was actor Peter Lawford.

Two years later another reputed mistress of the President, Judith Exner, made the claim in her book.

The story was further entrenched by the 1988 book, The Peter Lawford Story ghostwritten for Lawford’s fourth wife and widow after his 1985 death. That was a case of somebody never witness to the alleged affair writing a book for somebody else who was never witness to any affair, based on what they claimed was the revealed secrets of it all by someone who was already dead.

JFK and Lawford, 1962.

Monroe & Lawford (palzoo.net)

When it seemed like genuine documents that would once and for all prove that the President and the Actress maintained a long-term love affair had finally been discovered in 1997, the cache proved to consist of nothing but forgeries.

Of course what is absolutely true is that Lawford, and then his wife Patricia, JFK’s sister, were close friends with Monroe, and Monroe did visit their home along the beach in Santa Monica during the Jet Age era of JFK.

And it is also true that President Kennedy visited his sister and brother-in-law there as well.

There is also a fairly reliable claim that the President and the Actress were among some twenty dinner guests there during the days of the 1960 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles, California.

President Kennedy, seated at right with his niece and nephew, brother-in-law Peter Lawford (back to camera) and sister Pat Lawford taking a picture of her children and brother at the poolside of the Lawford home in Santa Monica. The woman in sunglasses at center is not Monroe.

The President with his friend and aide Dave Powers during a winter 1962 trip to Palm Springs when many claimed he also met with Monroe.

Other less clear accounts claim that, as a U.S. Senator, sometime before 1960, or even as a Congressman prior to 1953, John F, Kennedy joined Marilyn Monroe and several others, including his youngest brother Edward Kennedy at a dinner in Las Vegas.

A further claim that they met during a winter weekend he took in 1962 at the Palm Springs home of Bing Crosby has been dismissed as ridiculous by a former Secret Service agent two years ago, as has been the wilder claims by an ex-White House electrician Traphes Bryant, that Monroe was smuggled into the White House in a costume to meet the President.

Even in the early 1960s the Secret Service kept logs of non-employees with access to the residence.

Yes, there was a record of White House intern Mimi Alford visiting the President alone in the family quarters, giving evidence to her claim of their assignation.

There is no such record of Marilyn Monroe visiting.

In fact, just about the only documentation which seems to fuel the fable of the legendary affair is based on a photograph. It shows President Kennedy and his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy talking to Monroe against a wall of books in the private home of Democratic Party fundraiser Arthur Krim, where he and his wife hosted a party after the Madison Square Garden birthday celebration for the President.

At the President’s birthday, Lawford and Monroe.

On June 1, 2010, ABC News put out a news story with a blaring headline about the “previously unseen” and “only known” image of the President and actress together being put on sale for the first time.

What was far more shocking was how ABC was easily hoodwinked (along with other national news organizations) in proclaiming it was an historic find.

The picture had been published in numerous books previously.

Cecil Stoughton, White House Photographer.

In fact, it has always been owned by all of the American people.

The White House photographer who took it, Cecil Stoughton, was a federal government employee and all his White House photographs are considered public domain, paid for by taxpayers, and the property of the National Archives.

It is clear that Stoughton had withheld from releasing to the media for a period of time the picture. It has, however, always technically been public property and a public domain image. There was no dark secret of an affair being covered up by this image being held from release by the Kennedy Library audio-visual archives.

In fact, pictures of Kennedy talking to Jack Benny, Dianne Carroll and Maria Callas who also performed alongside Monroe at the May 1962 event were also withheld at the time.

This is often done by the White House Photographers Office during an President’s incumbency with images of them in private life, with family, friends, or those which show them in unflattering moments. The image of the Kennedy brothers and Monroe talking was, in fact, first published during the life of the President’s re-married widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Stoughton published a book of many family photographs he took of the Kennedys – all of them were public domain images.

Still, always, the national media is only too gleeful to eagerly feed the Kennedy-Monroe fable.

It sells.

Which is not to say they did not have some sort of “relationship,” be it flirtatious or physical. It’s just that it is still ultimately a matter of speculation, even after more than a half century of non-documentation has passed.

Judging by the recent story of one of his colleagues that, in his capacity as editor of George magazine John Kennedy mused about having Madonna pose similarly to Monroe at the birthday gala, the family didn’t take the story seriously.

In her role as a publishing editor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis didn’t blink or display anger or fear or any other remarkable reaction when she encountered book proposals on Monroe. In fact, she insisted upon including an image of Marilyn Monroe in one of the photo books she edited.

Seemingly unbothered by the Monroe affair legend, neither John Kennedy and his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis did not believe it was true.

Last fall, with the release of her mother’s taped oral history, when ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer gently asked Caroline Kennedy about stories of her father’s infidelities, the daughter honestly, plainly responded that whatever did or did not happen was “between them.” It was no evasion, no apology – just the rational truth.

Jackie Kennedy didn’t avoid the President’s birthday gala, as many suggest, because she was jealous of Monroe. She did so, as is most recently affirmed in the new book Mrs. Kennedy and Me, by her former Secret Service agent Clint Hill, because she always hated massive political fundraisers – a fact borne out by her reluctance to attend such events during her husband’s senatorial and presidential years.

Yes, the most shocking truth about JFK and Marilyn Monroe is that there was likely no affair.

In fact, there is even a second photograph of Kennedy and Monroe at the May 19, 1962 event, a scandalous image of him watching her sing. Along with several thousand other people.

The actress sings to the President. The only second known image of Marilyn Monroe with John F. Kennedy.

Along with the many pictures taken at that night’s after-party serving as evidence that JFK focused his attention on other people is a recording, almost never played in its full context, of his remarks thanking all of the performers at the gala. Kenned mentions Marilyn Monroe in a scripted sentence as merely one of many others. She is not the sole focus of his observations. Those pictures and an transcript of the President’s recorded remarks will follow in the second part of this story, tomorrow.

the most reassuring article on the kennedy-monroe story… if you wrote it then i’ll take your word for it !!! best part for me was: “The story was expanded to include the Attorney-General” because bobby was acused of also having an affair and worse yet, to have orderer the killing by drugs on poor marilyn with the help of lawford BUT YOU JUST CLEARED HIS NAME FOR ME 😉 i always believed he was not unfaithful nor a murderer. PS: writer C. David Heyman died this May 9th but still is trashy book “bobby & jackie” sells on… *sighs*

That book as well as several others he wrote did a tremendous amount of damage in terms of widespread public mis-perception. There are several online articles about his outright lying in his books and his claims of having left his research sources open proved to also be false. On the one hand I suppose that while the vast unchecked Internet only helps give currency to material that lacks credibility, it is also an arena where fraudulence can also be disclosed more rapidly. I would add that I know nothing substantive whatsoever about the circumstances of Monroe’s death and while I have no compelling interest in her work, she certainly created a masterful public persona – which surely discloses a great sense of self and intelligence. Thanks again so much for writing – you are enormously supportive and I appreciate it.

well carl, you deserve every ounce of support and reading because your articles are really insightful and fundamented… therefor, i thank you! ps: i found an article online about “bobby & marilyn” murder rumor, on my post # 171 😉

Very good Carl. This has been so ingrained in the public consciousness that trying to dispel what are only rumors won’t be easy, but you shouldn’t stop trying. All it takes is one person to say “wait a minute, where’s the real evidence” to begin to cast doubt.

Well, many of us just hate the idea of “we don’t know” and in the absence of proof, the truth about the JFK-Monroe story is truly “We don’t know.” But starting with P.T. Barnum and his “fiji mermaid” hoax, there’s always a marketplace for people all too willing to learn the “truth”! Btw – yes, there will (someday) be a fiji mermaid tale here about PT Barnum. At the least, putting it here offers those with more passion for discerning the depth of what is true and what is not a starting point, a refresher so to speak. Thanks for writing Bob!

The docu-dramas–if that’s the right description of them–about the President, Jackie, the Kennedys don’t help matters any. I’m thinking, in the made for TV movie “Jackie, Ethel, and Joan” based on the book by J. Randy Taraborelli, I remember a scene depicting an alleged conversation between the President and Jackie where she tells him essentially that she could tolerate the other women but that Marilyn was trouble. I’m sure that conversation never took place, but it is presented as factual, so people believe it actually happened and that the President actually had a relationship with Marilyn Monroe. I don’t know what Taraborelli’s sources were, but it seems to me he took a lot of artistic license, which raises the question how much license is allowed before the author is simply writing fiction?

One matter I would emphasize and hasten to add – what is adapted for dramatic purposes from historical material is almost entirely a matter divorced from the author of a book. Once a book is optioned for development as a dramatic vehicle, the producers have the final say about what to include – over the director, the script-writers, and even the book’s author. And also – very importantly – it is not the role of dramatic films and television to provide the public with an accurate depiction of real historical events or even a presentation of a character as the authentic person in real life. This is nothing new – Shakespeare’s Richard III is nothing at all like the real historical Richard III. It is the public and media which ignorantly assume that good drama is good history and vice versa. Having straddled both worlds I can say it is a slippery slope. All screenwriters can do is determine and commit themselves to an integrity as far as being true to the spirit of the person or events. If one were to actually depict events in real-time, it would be a deadly dull piece of entertainment that fails to deliver the drama the public pays money for – although it may be true to events. I didn’t see that television movie or read the book, but someone once told me that original material from my own oral history biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – specifically, material based on my interview with Joan Kennedy when her sister-in-law was advising her on whether or not to go ahead with a divorce – was used. But then again, one cannot copyright an idea or information, only the expression of it, so whether it was used in a film or book there is a wide leeway for that. I think this is where the role of documentaries are crucial – that is a venue which the public must expect there to be an authenticity and integrity of events being presented. Unfortunately, fewer of those are being made. Last time I watched the so-called History Channel I saw some show about guys driving trucks over ice. Ah – well – thanks much Bob for your observation on that. I do agree with you that – however unwisely – the public presumes that dramatizations are real history, but again that’s the viewer’s fault, not the television or film writer’s.

Well, this is a very complex issue indeed. I agree with you that fewer and fewer real documentaries are being made, I guess actual history isn’t sexy or salacious enough to sell. Viewers have to be more discerning about what they accept as truth. BTW, I saw that History Channel program about guys driving trucks over ice!

We can hope and pray that the work and the vision of John F. Kennedy and his adntiistraimon will continue to be studied and cherished but most of all, young or old (as I am) we, as a nation, must continue the aspirations and the dreams of this most important man. Thank you for these sites and may they fare well in the coming years.

Your comment that JBK would appreciate my analysis of her inter-action with JFK & JKG warms my heart and saddens as well, because I never availed myself of several opportunities to meet her.

Now, regarding Marilyn Monroe; I’ve always wondered why Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. spent the first few months of her life [Spring/Summer 1926] in Hollywood. Yes, I know he and Gloria Swanson were making book on a new studio, etc., etc., etc.

Bluntly, was Marilyn possibly his child? Did he meet her “film-cutter technician” mother at one of the studios? Did he commit her to an asylum [and place Marilyn with foster-parents] when she threatened to go public? Was a trust established for Marilyn in 1949-50 with JFK as the trustee?

If all this was true, than the ‘interest’ shown in Marilyn by the Kennedy children was a natural reaction to learning of another sibling in need of love and protection. I and my family would do the same, as I’m sure would most Americans.

This would demonstrate to me the highest ideals of Roman Catholic morality by JFK and his family and confirm my appraisal of them as a very admirable group of people.

I’m out of my league regarding any historical documentation or accurate biographical information on Monroe. Wouldn’t dare venture a guess because it wouldn’t be an educated one. Sorry for such a pale response – but I’ve learned not to chime in when I don’t know what I’m talking about! Thanks for the comment regardless.

Well first of all how incredibly kind of you to ask – the truth is, I always seek to write the original photographer or in the case of that fake picture the artist who concocted it – however, I was unable to determine just who that was – the image seemed to be proliferating on the Internet last year and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who originated it. I’m not, legally, able to assign permission to use but if it is for a school paper I think you can just use it without attribution.

I really, greatly appreciate your taking the time to give me that information. Even though the images are “fantasy” or considered artful ideas, rather than being authentic news or private snapshots, the work of the artist Alison Jackson needs to be credited. So many of the copies of this picture all over the Internet are not credited to the artist – and I’ve never been able to exactly trace who made them. Thanks to you I can finally correct the attribution. Thanks very much Jessica also for providing the links.

For us in foreign countries we never believed in JFK/Monroe love stories. We could always clearly perceive them as sheer character assassination and disinformation campaign to divert the public attention from the truth. We also know that Marilyn was murdered because she came to know the details of the bizarre JFK murder plan and the details of clandestine deals as well as illicit relation ships. While mafia killed her it was as per the contract for a hit with the fascist forces.

Thanks for your input – always fascinating to see the different perspectives everyone has on the assassination of President Kennedy and the nature and degree of the Monroe relationship. I’m careful to limit my commentary because I am not an expert on either very broad, wide worlds – but I appreciate hearing the ideas of others.

exactly carl ! these photos were debunked years ago and anyone with a slight knowledge about the Kennedys and a few pictures of jack, can tell right away that those are faces of look-a-likes (not Jack and Marilyn standing by the window for a paparazzi to take the shot – jack may have been a womanizer but he wasnt dumb) – those few pics were fabricated way after the potus RIP so its easy to brew those gossip in the medias to sell more, specially when you are not around to defend yourself… same goes for the capote, heymann sensasionalist books and even edgar hoover hear-say and blacked-out reports forged upon hints coming from hoover agents. *sighs*

With your own expertise on photography regarding President Kennedy, I appreciate your affirmation about these. The problem isn’t an artist expressing “a fantasy” or imagining the “what if” – because she clearly and absolutely made it clear they were not real. The problem is when anything proliferates on the Internet and the original artist or copyright holder – especially to recently created art in any form – is dropped and long lost along the way – and then hundreds of thousands of people – innocently enough – assume they are “real.” It isn’t the fault of the original artist of whatever it is that has been created. I’ve been reading this is increasingly a problem on sites like Pinterest.

was this actually true or not i was just wondering? This is a very interesting topic because i never knew Jackie Kennedy’s husband would do anything like that. I am just now finding out about this and doing a speech on him. I wonder if Jackie Kennedy ever knew about this? Were Jackie and John married when any of this happened? This is so weird; I’m very surprised that John F. Kennedy would ever do anything like that. Is it even true that John and Marilyn Monroe did that? If so, I wonder how Jackie Kennedy dealt with all of this. If I were her, I would’ve left John F. Kennedy. I’m fixing to finish reading a couple of more blogs about this man. I feel so amazed but it is weird knowing that the husband of the woman I’m doing a speech about had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. I feel so creeped out with all of this happening. I have a lot to say during my speech. I will hurry up with it but people in my class are going to want to know more than I’m going to tell them. I’m going to feel weird talking about this in front of my whole entire class.

Dear Hali – Thanks for writing. I hope you don’t mind that I edited your two separate submitted comments into one, as a summary. The intention of the article is to show that, in truth, the story of an intimate relationship between Kennedy and Monroe (the stories about it began in 1975 – not during their lifetime) has never been factually documented. It has emerged over the years from the verbal accounts of those who knew or claimed to know either of the two of them. On the other hand, as recently as two or three years ago, there were others – in this case Secret Service agents – who specifically claimed that it was not true and that it was an impossibility for Monroe to have breached the level of security which she would have had to for at least one of these stories to be true, without there being some form of security clearance documentation. The point of the story is to remind readers that among the possibilities is that it did not happen. This story is not claiming that it did not happen – it is only suggesting that the story has grown to such mythical proportions that the media and the public now never question that it is entirely true. It makes a great story that people seem to want to believe – even though it might not be true, or that part of it may not be true. In fact, it may never be possible to prove it was true or not true. In regard to your question about Jacqueline Kennedy’s reaction to the alleged relationship of JFK and Monroe – here is a good example of what I attempt to point out. Over the years, people have assumed that because the First Lady did not attend the famous 1962 birthday party of JFK in Madison Square Garden she was somehow hurt or trying to avoid Monroe’s presence there. In fact, however, she had been scheduled to go riding in the countryside that weekend long before – according to a book which came out just several months ago by her Secret Service agent Clint Hill. He also said she didn’t act odd or even slightly hint at being uncomfortable about the event. Mrs. Kennedy did not like these types of large political gatherings at all. The JFK birthday event where Monroe sang was a political fundraiser – not a private party. And that was another point I tried to make with this series of articles. Today, the footage of Monroe singing and of JFK thanking her are clipped out of a much longer and larger film of the whole event – Monroe was just one of many actors and singers who performed, and JFK’s remarks thanking Monroe were just one line in a long speech he made. But just cutting out and putting forward those two clips, however, helps to leave the impression that they were just focused on one another – which is not true. It is established through some documentation that JFK did have relationships outside of his marriage. It is also true that Jackie Kennedy’s father had done so and was not necessarily shocked by such behavior. While it may be hard for a young student today to understand this entirely, those sorts of behaviors were more accepted by wives 5o years ago because many often felt they had no choice but to accept it. In fact, all of this is more complicated and best explained by a parent but it also does not preclude the fact that this husband and wife did also love each other and were emotionally close – and that complicates the other issue. I hope this makes sense and that I haven’t simplified the issue for someone who may well already understand all this. I hope this helps somehow.

After the death of Marilyn Jackie had made a statement that “Marilyn will go on living eternally”. Not only that it is said that in a discussion with a friend Jackie made a statement that she was well aware of JFK’s trysts and that before becoming President he had affairs with two women and Marilyn was not one of them.

Interesting. I don’t recall that Mrs. Kennedy issued any type of formal or public statement upon Marilyn Monroe’s death, but in further support of what you say are two curious incidents involving her and Monroe’s legacy. As a reporter, before her marriage, one of the questions Jackie Bouvier asked for her column was – “What would you talk about on a date with Marilyn Monroe?” and then secondly, as a widow, working later in life as a professional editor with her great pal Diana Vreeland on the photo book Allure, Mrs. Onassis impishly suggested they juxtapose on facing pages images of Monroe with Maria Callas (whose fully developed love affair with Aristotle Onassis before he married John Kennedy’s widow is entirely documented unlike the undocumented but persistent legend of the JFK-Monroe relationship). By the way – thanks for taking the time to offer your observations rather than just reading the piece. I appreciate it.

One small question: did Jeanne Carmen lie about an encounter between herself, John Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe? Even if no affair took place Carmen’s assertions about herself and Bobby Kennedy may be motivated by a desire for cash, however, she’s maintained the involvement with the Kennedy’s for many, many years. Anthony Summers is a sensationalist – no doubt about it – but would he include Carmen if she were such an unreliable source? I don’t care about Secret Service agents – they have various axes to grind – especially with the Kennedy’s whom they loathed. And as for an electrician’s assertions – I’m not sure what his access was during that time, but what I do know is that NARA still has phone logs and there are a great number of calls between Monroe and JFK at the White House when Jackie was not in residence. That could point to an intimate friendship or it could point to more.

Even if I was extremely well-versed on the claims of Jeanne Carmen I would never dare to make a final judgement of them as a “lie” or “truth,” unless I had the full context and supporting documentation to study myself. Regarding NARA records, I was unaware of telephone logs from Marilyn Monroe in 1961 and 1962 to the White House. I do know that there is a record of incoming calls to the White House from Judith Campbell. However, what many fail to note is that an incoming call, regardless of its recorded length, is not indication enough that either the person calling spoke to the President or First Lady or that a telephone call was returned in response.

I didn’t get a chance to read all the comments and hope this wasn’t mentioned. Years ago, one of my college professors told our class the JFK suffered from great back pain and often could not move; that he was close to being an invalid. The stories about Marilyn were put out to hide this truth and show him as young and healthy.

Actually, rumors of an affair began with a gossip column by Walter Winchell in the August 1963 issue of “Photoplay” which states that Marilyn had an affair with a married man. He did not name the said man but he gave “clues” (sort of) : « the man is happily married and has children, you can see him in a crowd and reach out and touch him, he is a great man, famous, known the world over, that he can be seen on television and in movie theaters, that people look up to him and consider his wife and children lucky, he is mentioned almost daily in newspapers and magazines, and that he is considered “a truly honorable man”. The article alleges the affair between this man and Monroe began during the “worst time of her life and the best time of his”. The alleged man was celebrating his good fortune in reaching a height in his career “he never before dreamed” would be possible. »

From 1963 until 1968, 2/3 books and several gossip columns alleged that the married man Marilyn had an affair with was… Robert F. Kennedy! RFK had promised MM that he would divorce his wife and marry her. She allegedly felt betrayed when he told her he would not see her again… Sounds familiar? It was not until 1973 that the names were swapped and that became the story of MM and JFK.

While I acknowledge that there is no factual proof of a “steamy love affair”, you might have undermined the fact that (presumably defamatory, yet official) FBI documents have bolstered the rumors. This is the reason why so many people believe in it.

You’ve stated that the link between MM and JFK was Peter Lawford, but I would like to add Pat Newcombe, Marilyn’s publicist who spent a lot of time with her in 1962. If there was or wasn’t an affair, she would know but she has inexplicably always refused to speak out for her most famous client after all these years. I mean, even secret service agents spoke out for JFK!
Given that she was Monroe’s publicist, we are having a hard time figuring out why she is so silent and many fans suggest she does so because of her ties with the Kennedys. On 12 August 1962 (one week after Marilyn’s passing), she sailed on a yacht with the President and Peter Lawford and was pictured wearing the President’s jacket (source: http://www.cursumperficio.net/CD/Peop/Love/JFK/Oth/JFK4.jpg – on the left). After Monroe’s death, Newcombe spent some time in Europe, then decided to work with Pierre Salinger at the US Information Agency. She also worked with Bobby Kennedy on a film tribute to JFK for the 1964 Democratic Convention. After Bobby’s death, she returned to Hollywood as Barbara Streisand’s publicist, and eventually VP of MGM Studios.

On a final note, I’d like to state that Jeanne Carmen is a liar and never acquainted Marilyn. Had Carmen been a close friend to Marilyn for 8 years (as she claimed), there would be at least one photo of her with MM…